Thirty three women's rights defenders were arrested in Tehran
March 4, 2007 - Thirty three women's rights defenders were arrested today in Tehran during a peaceful gathering in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran. The gathering was to protest the recent state pressures on women's rights defenders.
In today's peaceful protest, women held banners reading, "Article 27 of the constitution guarantees the right to peaceful protests" and "We, too, participated in the previous peaceful protest on 22 Khordad" to show their solidarity with the five women activists who had been summoned to the court for previous peaceful protests and had their appearance in court at the time.
The organizers of the two major current campaigns, Stop Stoning Forever, and One Million Signatures to Change the Discriminatory Law, have been among the women rights defenders by the National Security Police.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Sign the petition:
Please by signing this online petition:
http://www.meydaan.com/English/petition.aspx?cid=52&pid=11
When you sign the petition, a copy of it is sent to the offices of Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, and another copy is sent to Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament.
Spread the Word:
Please tell friends about this campaign and ask them to support the release of women's rights defenders, too.
Write a Letter:
Also, you can directly write to the Iranian authorities, including Mr. Seyed Mahmoud Shahroudi, the Head of Judiciary, Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament ,and Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
In your letter, please ask the Iranian authorities to uphold the law and refer to the article 27 of the Iranian constitution, "Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam." and ask for an immediate and unconditional release of all the women rights defenders.
Please send letters to:
Head of the Judiciary
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Ministry of Justice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Email:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (mark 'Please forward to HE Ayatollah Shahroudi')
(Salutation: Your Excellency)
President:
His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud AhmadiNejad
The Presidency
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 649 5880
E-mail:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
(Salutation: Dear Sir)
Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament Majles-e Shura-ye Eslami
Imam Khomeini Avenue, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
Fax: +98 21 646 1746 (occasionally difficult to reach, please be patient)
(Salutation: Dear Sir)
Please note that it is not always easy to send fax and email to Iran and we urge you to also courier your letters to the Iranian embassy in your country (see the listing of an Iranian embassy in your country here:
http://www.salamiran.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=324
Free Women's Rights Defenders in Iran
Send this petition to:
His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament
Subject:
Petition Demanding Immediate and Unconditional Release of Women’s Rights Defenders Arrested in Tehran on March 4, 2007
Petition:
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned, are writing to you to express our great concern about the recent persecutions and prosecutions of the women’s rights defenders in Iran. We are especially dismayed at the news of the recent arrests of 38 women’s rights defenders on March 4, 2007, in Tehran while gathering in a peaceful protest in front of the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Furthermore, we are distressed by the use of unnecessary violence by the National Security Police officers against these women which has led to some cases of physical injury.
According to Article 27 of the Iranian constitution, “Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.” And these women had peacefully gathered to show their solidarity with the 5 women activists who were on trial for their participation in a previous peaceful protest.
We call upon you to ensure the safety and security of all the people arrested at the peaceful gathering in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on Sunday, March 4, including the following women, and their immediate and unconditional release.
Nooshin Ahmadi Khorasani, Parvain Ardalan, Nahid Keshavarz, Mahboubeh Hosseinzadeh, Mahboubeb Abbasgholizadeh, Niloofar Golkar, Parastoo Dokoohaki, Maryam Mirza, Mariam Hossein Khah, Nahid Jafari, Minoo Mortezayee Langroodi, , Fatemeh Govarayee, Shahla Entesari, Soosan Tahmasbi, Azadeh Forghani, Jila Bani Yaghoub, Nahid Entesari, Shadi Sadr, Saghi Laghaee, Saghar Laghaee, Elnaz Ansari, Sara Imanian, Jelveh Javaheri, Zara Amjadian, Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh, Nasrin Afzali, Asieh Amini, Mahnaaz Mohammadi, Somayeh Farid, Farideh Entesari, Sarah Loghmani, and Rezan Moghaddam.
http://www.meydaan.com/English/petition.aspx?cid=52&pid=11